Monday, November 15, 2010

A Napa Mid-Century Architecture Tour

I was surprised and extremely excited to learn that the theme for this year's 22nd Annual Holiday CandleLight Tour presented by Napa County Landmarks & the Napa County Historical Society will be "Mad Men Meets The Valley." This self-led tour will highlight Monticello Park, a mid-century modern neighborhood in Napa. Accoding to the organizers Napa's Monticello Park contains "large and lovingly maintained mid-century homes" that "demonstrate the beautiful and innovative design features of post-war architecture and landscape design."

I've only lived in Napa 7 months so I'm still getting to know the area but I've been surprised by the number of beautiful mid-century buildings, houses and neighborhoods I've come across so far. One of the many reason's we moved here was because we loved the area but we continue to be surprised by Napa's diverse neighborhoods. From the lovingly preserved Victorians, to the California modern ranch homes, Napa is easily one of the state's most beautiful small cities and it contains some of of the most wonderful examples of California architecture that I've ever seen.

I'm currently researching my own neighborhood in Napa, which was called "Napa Rancho" at one time. It contains many cute and modest ranch homes and more modern houses as well that I plan to share photos of soon. Our own home seems to be a sort of hybird between the two types of houses we're surrounded by. Needless to say, I was thrilled to discover that there are other mid-century neighborhoods in Napa that I hadn't heard of yet as well as other mid-century enthusiasts who are obviously interested in preserving and maintaining their period homes. I had a great time at The Sacramento Mid-Century Home Tour back in June and although the Napa event seems to be much smaller in scale, I hope it will generate a lot of interest in Napa's mid-century architecture.

The Napa Mid-Century Holiday CandleLight Tour takes place on Saturday, December 11th from 3pm-6pm and starts at the Hay Barn Gallery at Gordon Huether Studio, 1821 Monticello Road. For more information please visit the Napa County Landmarks site or the Napa County Historical Society site where you can purchase tickets online.

5 comments:

Kimberly, How do I know about this! I live in a gorgeous Streblow home there are seven of these beauties here where I live in Napa, one of which is unoccupied at the moment and is a GEM! I'd love to get in touch with you directly! my email: astorianm@mac.com.I am really hoping to make the tour but that is the weekend my restaurant install goes into 5th gear :/ So glad to have found your blog. Best MCM wishes, Michele

Greetings, Michele & Julie! Thanks for stopping by and saying hello. It's great to know that there are other locals interested in mid-century architecture. My husband and I are going to definitely try and make the tour. It sounds like it will be wonderful event.

I loved Julie's idea regarding a local list of blog links so I went ahead and copied her idea (Hope you don't mind, Julie!) and created my own short list of Napa blogs and added links to both your sites. Please feel free to cross-link if you feel like it.

Hey, thanks for the publicity! We here at Landmarks are really excited about the tour as well. Your blog is very cool, and we were hoping to catch some of this energy. FYI, we have just added a sixth house, so there is really going to be a variety of architecture to check out! Kara, Napa County Landmarks, info@napacountylandmarks.org

It's my pleasure, Kara! I love what you're doing at Napa County Landmarks and I'm looking forward to the upcoming tour. 6 houses is more than I expected to see so thanks for sharing the news. I hope the tour attracts a good size crowd.

About Mid-Century Living

Welcome to Mid-Century Living! My name is Kimberly and I'm a longtime admirer of mid-century design. My husband and I recently bought our first home and it's a beautiful old custom built 1954 atomic ranch house in Napa, CA. I plan to share my adventures in home restoration and remodeling as well as various decorating tips, gardening and landscaping ideas, recipes and anything else that falls under the banner of "Mid-Century" or "Living." I'll also be writing about local issues and various things that interest me as a new home owner. I hope you'll enjoy your stop here!